Oh, but I don't go out of my way to avoid 'girl' things. She's barely 2 and she's had a preference for a long time now. She likes pink. And if I purposefully avoided something she chooses, then that's just as bad as never giving her a choice at all.

She's welcome to choose cars or dolls. Or whatever.

My sister says that this is the way to go, but I disagree. A little girl's choice to opt for pink sparkly princesses is not made in a vacuum; it's made in a cultural environment which markets them heavily to her, which makes money (I totally just spelled it munny, I'm very tired) from the stability of her gendered preferences, and for which she is validated.

All of that might potentially be ok, except I think that the pink sparkly princesses aren't a completely harmless, anodyne phenomenon - I think it's dangerous for kids to imbibe the idea that that's who women are and ought to be.

Every choice should be supported, but I'm not going to be passive and indifferent to the environment in which that choice is made.

Love it, than you for the responses, support, and suggestions. The older she gets the more it seems like the options for things are very stereotyped. It was nice when she was tiny and there were nice options for gender neutral toys and clothes. I have no problem with her choosing what she wants. I want her to have access to the same things I would for a son. But going to pick out an electric toothbrush for the little dear that seems to be on a brushing strike - why are the only options covered in cartoon characters and full of pink or blue? I guess I'll have to shop online more!

The items in our house are fairly gender neutral, with some boyish and some girlish. They are the same things I would be buying for a son. We don't really do cartoon characters, and maybe I've avoided them because they push the stereotypes the worst.